The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on first‐generation women test‐takers: Magnifying adversities, stress, and consequences for bar exam performance

Abstract

AbstractBy magnifying gender‐ and socioeconomic status‐based inequalities, the COVID‐19 pandemic caused stress and disrupted career progress for professional students. The present work investigated the impact of pandemic‐related stress and prevailing barriers on structurally disadvantaged women preparing for a high‐stakes professional exam. In Study 1, we found that among US law students preparing for the October 2020 California Bar Exam—the professional exam that enables one to become a practicing attorney in California—first‐generation women reported the greatest stress from pandemic‐related burdens and underperformed on the exam relative to others overall, and particularly compared to continuing‐generation women. This underperformance was explained by pandemic‐related stress they contended with most, as well as by structural demands shouldered most by first‐generation test‐takers regardless of gender. Even when controlling for the structural features of caregiving and working while studying, the psychological burdens experienced most by first‐generation women predicted lower exam success. Study 2 investigated the February 2021 California Bar Exam. Consistent with Study 1, first‐generation women test‐takers reported the most pandemic‐related stress, which predicted lower exam performance above and beyond structural barriers to exam success. We offer policy prescriptions to bolster the success of at‐risk groups in the legal profession pipeline, a challenge magnified by the pandemic.